Zinnia Zahara Starlight Rose

These blooms are fully 2 ½ inches wide, and there's more of them ? they pop up all over super-compact plants, drawing bees and butterflies into the garden and absolutely wowing those hot, dry beds and water-starved containers. Single-flowered, they offer pure white petals with a hot-rose halo at the center. And as the summer sun warms them each day, the rosy shade grows deeper and more intense!

Renowned for its ability to withstand heat, humidity, drought, and just about anything else, 'Zahara Starlight Rose' is the first bicolor bedding Zinnia that can truly claim to be disease-resistant. Mildew is a traditional enemy of the Zinnia, but 'Zahara's got it licked! (Or should we say "dried"?!) Luckily, it's also very long-blooming, prepared to continue well into autumn as long as the hot weather holds. What a joy!

This is the annual you'll want along that baking-hot driveway or cement path, crowding against the house (whose walls reflect heat), and beautifying the patio (which never gets watered often enough). Just 8 to 12 inches high and wide, it can be planted a bit more closely than other bedding Zinnias, again thanks to the mildew resistance. No need to worry about the foliage "touching"!

Direct-sow the seeds. When the soil has already warmed and spring is well underway, this plant will flower within 5 to 6 weeks of sowing. But if you want to get an earlier start, or if that hot April turns into a chilly May, no fear ? 'Zahara Starlight Rose' will grow vigorously all the same, and simply wait for the warm weather before blooming! Why can't all plants be this cooperative?

'Zahara Starlight Rose' is one of three flowering seeds winning the 2010 All-America Selection for garden-worthiness. You might like to take a look at the other two as well -- Snapdragon Twinny Peach and Blanket Flower Mesa Yellow. Ease of growth and minimal care are key to the AAS judges, so you can always rely on an AAS winner to outperform most others, and with little effort on your part! Pkt is 25 seeds.